Mom fighting to provide warm home, Christmas joy

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A Globe Santa event at Legacy Place in Dedham included former New England Patriots kicker John Smith, who said hello to young fans Serena Kapur (left) and Amia Kapur.

By Christopher TangneyGlobe Correspondent
December 17, 2013

Many parents who write to Globe Santa are stretching every dollar to avoid homelessness or hunger. For their children, finding presents under the tree on Christmas morning would offer a few hours of long-overdue relief after what has been a difficult year.

“I am the mother of two beautiful children who are my everyday’s inspiration,” a woman from Boston wrote in a letter to Globe Santa. “I may not be able to spoil them with everything their hearts desire, but I am able to work hard towards keeping a warm home for them to sleep in every night.”

The single mother devotes every ounce of energy to supporting her 5-year old son and 1-year old daughter, and the family has long been on a waiting list to relocate to more affordable housing, she wrote. In the meantime, however, her rent, utilities, commuting costs, clothing and food are generally more than she makes each month.

“I refuse to go into a shelter,” she said in her letter. “I feel that would be a very stressful process for my family and if at this time I am blessed with a job that at least allows me to have enough for rent, then I guess that will do.”

Like any mother, though, her heart aches over all the things her children have become accustomed to doing without. The nights out for ice cream or a movie that other families enjoy fairly regularly are extremely rare occurrences for this family of three.

That heartache grows stronger as the Christmas season hits and her children encounter a blitz of advertising and neighborhood chatter about the latest toys and hot items.

“I can’t ignore the feeling I get each year as it gets harder for me to provide them with gifts, games, toys, everything that I would love for them to have for Christmas,” their mother wrote.

‘ I refuse to go into a shelter.’

For more than 50 years, the campaign has delivered toys, books, candy and other gifts to families that celebrate Christmas in the Santa Claus tradition. This brother and sister will join at least 25,000 children across Eastern Massachusetts in receiving a visit from Globe Santa this year.

Last year, more than $1.3 million was raised, and some 49,000 children in 28,000 families found presents from Globe Santa under their tree.

Globe Santa is only able to make his deliveries thanks to the thousands of individuals, groups, businesses and others who donate to the campaign. Many hold annual fund-raising events and collections at local restaurants and community organizations. Some are organized by folks who remember Globe Santa from their own childhood.

Donations are needed to ensure that every eligible family that requested a visit from Globe Santa receives presents, so please consider helping to make a child happy at Christmas by visiting GlobeSanta.org and contributing to the campaign.

The Boston Globe Foundation pays all the administrative costs associated with the fund drive, so every dollar donated to Globe Santa is used to buy and deliver gifts to children.